An organically folded concrete façade and angled spaces encapsulated within, create this two-storied construction: Triose. Located in the beautiful Indian hilltop town of Lonavala, the entire frontage of the site overlooks a shivering green canopy, a riverbed, and rows of hills. In this story, we’ll take a look at the planning, design, style, concept, materials, and construction of Triose, with an emphasis on the overall design philosophy, innovative and inspirational elements, and the technology employed by Sanjay Puri Architects in erecting the Pune-based double story.
About the Practice | Triose
A curvaceous arts complex, a cheese-inspired hotel façade; riddled with holes; a chapel on the edge of a hill with a beautiful pool, a misty waterfall, and an office building that’s enveloped in traditional Jalis designed with origami-like folds—these are just a few of Mumbai-based Sanjay Puri Architects’ strikingly original and award-winning architectural design.
At the age of 46, Sanjay Puri is one of the country’s most sought after architects with over hundred-and-twenty ongoing projects across India, Mauritius, Montenegro, UAE, and Spain, a team of seventy-two, and over thirty international design awards—including the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award (Cannes), and Hospitality Design Award, New York.
When Puri was in India in 1992, he decided to set up his architectural practice and named it Sanjay Puri Architects. He began his venture when a builder approached him with a project on a 54-acre township called Vasant Nagri in Vasai. After his involvement in this mega-sized project, Puri’s firm saw an avalanche of residential and commercial projects.
Planning and Design
A 12′ high lobby at the building’s entrance leads into a 24′ high volume housing a food court — beyond which are a few retail outlets. The Triose building is a two-level structure that houses retail shops, a food court, two restaurants, a bar, and gaming areas. The 24′ high volume of the food court overlooks beautiful pools of water on either side and sweeps down in the center creating a large open frame looking outwards and opening onto a sheltered deck.
The central portion of the first level of Sanjay Puri Architects’ Triose, is home to luxe sports and entertainment facilities. The entertainment area leads into a lounge area on one side and a restaurant on the other. A natural slope in the site towards the rear allowed also extensive parking spaces (accommodating over 100 cars) to be created and provide the high traffic expected into the interiors with sunlight and natural ventilation from the rear.
The axis of the Triose building changes constantly from one side to the other allowing each section within to look out towards different views of the surrounding landscapes. While different portions of the Triose building are intentionally designed in different ways, the spaces visually flow uninterruptedly all through the structure from one end to the other and across the two floors.
Style and Innovation
The building’s concrete shell which is unique in texture protects the interior and forms a frame while also forming large open spaces that act as a buffer between the interior and the exterior and offer panoramic views. Each section of Triose’s interiors opens outwards dramatically encapsulating the external environment to the interiors, creating a seamless integration of the interior with nature and makes you rub your eyes to make sure you aren’t dreaming. Its concrete folded skin forms most of the building and creates large open frames with panoramic views of the beautiful natural surroundings; the plans of the building too open out towards these large frames accentuating the outdoors to the indoors.
The structure consists of three interconnected volumes which emanate from a central circular spine. One of these three large framed openings cantilever out at the first level housing a restaurant within and accentuating the entrance below. The building by Sanjay Puri Architects has been created sculpturally from within and externally; the Triose building is a unique manifestation of abstracted volumes that are fluid in the interior and perceived as dramatic juxtapositioning of trapezoids externally. “Until we built the Triose food court building in Lonavala in 2009, we were only playing with the juxtaposition of various forms, but after that project, we truly began abstracting spaces,” says Puri.
The Construction Philosophy | Triose
Sanjay Puri Architects’ bold design featuring a folded concrete façade, beautiful contemporary architecture, with impressive angled spaces and geometrical lines, emphasizes the achievements of contemporary Indian architecture. Architect Sanjay Puri said, “an idea is never to be different for the sake of it.” This exquisite piece of present-day architecture is one of the most impressive buildings in Lonavala, India.
Building Triose was certainly not an easy task, especially because the idea was to conceive a visually imposing design that would perfectly blend with the natural landscape; Sanjay Puri Architects went one step further by creating a mind-boggling structure that features extraordinary views over the surroundings; setting a benchmark in contemporary architecture.
